


that's how the story goes

by eluvians



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Disney, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 17:04:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6123495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eluvians/pseuds/eluvians
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“So did they give you a name along with all those rippling pectorals?” </i><br/><br/>For the Captive Prince kink meme: "The Disney version. Damen is Hercules. Laurent is Megara."</p>
            </blockquote>





	that's how the story goes

**Author's Note:**

> Damen is Herc, Laurent is Meg, Govart is Nessus, Nikandros is Phil and Pallas is Pegasus (because Pallas screams FIGHT ME). 
> 
> This is a partial fill, covering only the scene with Hercules and the centaur when he first meets Meg. As you will see, a lot of the dialogue from the movie was shamelessly repurposed here, because the longer I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed to change anything. This is my first go at fluff in a long time, and my first ever AU/fusion, so I'm sorry if that shows!
> 
> I'll be in the back, imagining Laurent reprising "I Won't Say (I'm In Love)".

Flying high above the clouds, a roar from below broke the quiet.

“Sounds like your basic D.I.D,” said Nikandros, the first tones of excitement threading his voice. “A damsel in dist _ress_ —” He broke off with a shout, as Damen swiftly angled Pallas down, honing in on the source of the noise.

The noise was coming from a glistening oasis. Swiftly unmounting as they landed, Damen led them quietly to some bushes where he and Nikandros could observe the situation.

The first thing Damen noted was that the situation was not what he expected. Not a young woman but a young man strode purposefully into the clearing, ankle deep in the shallow pool.

Close on the man’s heels, a monstrous centaur. Because of course there was. “Not so fast, sweetheart!” the centaur growled, hand reaching for the man.

Damen felt a prickle of irritation.

Apparently the feeling was mutual—the young man’s voice was cold when he spoke. “Govart, I will open you up sternum to navel if you so much as touch me—”

The young man broke off as he was swept into the centaur’s giant fist and brought nose-to-nose with the monster. His delicate face screwed up in disgust as the creature snarled, “ _I like ‘em fiery_.”

Anger greyed the edges of Damen’s vision.

“Now remember, Damen,” Nikandros started, “First, analyse the situation. Don't just barrel in there without thinking—” He broke off as he glanced up, the space Damen had previously been occupying now conspicuously empty. He groaned as he turned to watch Damen purposefully striding into the fray. To Pallas he grunted, “He’s losing points for this.”

The horse nodded, snuffing.

In the clearning, the young man tried again. “Govart, you don’t know what—”

“Halt.” Damen took up position in front of the creature and his prey, hands balance on his hips in a power stance. Or so Nikandros had called it when he showed him. “Pardon me, my good, uh, sir. I'll have to ask you to release that young…”

The young man in question hardly spared him a glance before interuppting. “Leave us.”

Faltering again, Damen eyed him, unsure how to proceed. “A-aren't you…a damsel in distress?” he asked, somewhat weakly.

The man’s level stare could have stripped paint from an amphora, Damen was sure of it. It was really more withering than it had any right to be, Damen thought, considering the man was dangling from the fist of a giant centaur. 

The centaur watched the exchange with mild interest.

“I'm a damsel, I'm in distress; I can handle this,” the man said, tone stiff. He smirked, resting his head in his hand as he leant gracefully on the fist of the centaur, golden hair gleaming in the dappled light. “Have a nice day.”

Taken aback, Damen floundered. He shot a harried look at Nikandros, who glared and urged him on with his hands. Damen turned back to the situation.

“Uh—” he hesitated—none of Nikandros’ training had quite prepared him for this. He drew his sword, feeling marginally braver for the steady weight. He cleared his throat to try again. “Sir, I'm afraid you may be too close to the situation to realise—”

The centaur—Govart—rolled his eyes. “Enough,” he intoned, and with a lazy swipe of his enormous hand, sent Damen flying and crashing into the shallows. His sword flew from his grasp, disappearing into the water nearby.

On the shore, Nikandros ran a hand down his face. “Get your sword!” he shouted to Damen, who looked dazed, his voice slightly muffled by the hand on his face, other hand gesturing half-heartedly.

“Sword!” Damen exclaimed, spitting up water as he righted himself on to his knees, hands frantically splashing about in search of his fallen weapon. “Right, right—rule fifteen: a hero is only as good as his—” His hand closed on something firm. “— _weapon!_ ” he finished, triumphant, swinging out to face his challenger.

The feeling passed quickly.

It was not a sword, but a fish. Govart laughed; the young man looked bored; somewhere in the background, Damen heard Nikandros groan. Unhappy with its new surroundings, the fish wriggled out of Damen’s grasp, dropping with a _splash!_ back into the water.

Nikandros struggled to hold Pallas back as the centaur unleashed another powerful blow, sending Damen crashing into a nearby boulder with a sickening thud. To Pallas, he murmured, “Hold on! This is his fight, for now.” Turning to Damen, he yelled, “Come on, kid! Concentrate! Use your head!”

Shaking his head to clear the haze of the blow, an idea occurred to Damen. _Perfect,_ he thought.

Staggering to his feet, Damen shook off the damage, considering his next move. He charged, headfirst. Laurent was released only to splash down into the pond as Govart went flying. 

“Oh, I-I’m sorry,” said Damen, stumbling over his words. He scooped up the young man from the shallow water, placing him gently on a nearby log. “I’m s-sorry, that was stupid…” He trailed off, uncertain.

The man swept the sopping wet hair from his eyes, and glared at Damen. He had, Damen noticed, eyes of the clearest blue Damen had ever seen. 

“Stupid,” the man repeated. His beautiful blue eyes shifted. “Behind you.”

Damen startled, twisting. He swore. “Excuse me,” he said, turning back to Govart, who was looking furious.

* * *

The fight went better than expected, actually.

* * *

After, Damen stood beaming, vestiges of the battle all around him. “Pretty good, right?” he said to Pallas, who tossed his mane in delight.

Nikandros was glaring, hooves pawing angrily at the dirt. “Next time, don't let your guard down because of a blonde with a pair of big blue eyes!”

Damen rolled his eyes. “I beat him, didn’t I?”

Nikandros growled. “You’ve got to stay focused, and you—”

Damen spotted the young man a short ways away, fastidiously lacing his clothing closed. His hair was drying, revealing golden waves that were prismatic in the dappled light. It struck Damen like a bolt of lightening to the chest. In the soft, dappled light of the clearing, his beauty was arresting.

Brushing Nikandros aside, Damen approached the young man cautiously. He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “So, uh, are y-you alright…?” He let the sentence dangle, hoping for a name.

The young man regarded him coolly. “Laurent. You know, I had situation under control.”

Damen bristled. “Oh yes, that is certainly how it appeared when I was watching you being manhandled by a giant centaur.”

Laurent just glared at him. 

Deflating slightly, Damen tried for casual, not quite managing it. “Uh, so how'd you get stuck with the…?” He gestured vaguely back to the shallow pool.

Laurent raised a golden brow. “Pinhead with hooves? Well, you know how these things are.” He swooned dramatically, sliding up to Damen. “They think _no_ means _yes_ and, _Get lost_ means, _Take me, I'm yours_.” He batted his eyelashes dramatically. Damen swallowed thickly. He risked a glance at Nikandros, who shrugged. His eyes shifted back guiltily to Laurent.

Laurent’s brows creased. “Don't worry, maybe your friend here can explain it to you later.” He gestured to Pallas, and Nikandros growled.

He pushed off Damen, resuming his task of fixing the laces of his garment. “So did they give you a name along with all those rippling pectorals?” asked Laurent, fixed on his task.

Damen flushed. He felt off-kilter, off-balance. “Me? Oh! U-uh, my n-name is—that is, my name—”

Laurent looked up then, smirking, blue eyes sharp under his lashes. “Are you always this articulate?”

Damen flushed harder. “My name is Damen,” he blurted, face flushing. “Damen of Akelios, at your service.”

“Well, _Damen of Akelios,_ ” said Laurent. His eyes trailed down Damen’s body and back up. “It’s been…something.”

Laurent turned, and began walking away.

Damen considered the fact he was pretty sure his own name had been used as an insult. “Wait!” Damen reached for Laurent, hand closing around his pale wrist. He felt Laurent stiffen then still. Damen struggled to find his voice.

“Do you—that is, can we, um, g-give you a ride?”

Laurent shifted his stare from where Damen’s hand rested, to Pallas, who was snorting loudly, hooves thumping and feathers ruffled. He turned his attention back to Damen. “Your horse-bird doesn’t seem to like me every much,” he observed.

“Pallas? Oh, no, Pallas would be happy to—ow!” Damen disappeared under a tuff of feathers as Pallas smacked him over the head with one feathered wing. When he emerged he saw Laurent was carefully controlling his lips. His heart skipped a beat.

“I’ll be fine. Despite appearances, I can take care of myself.” Laurent winked. “I tie my own laces and everything.” With another smirk at Damen’s stupefied face, he turned, heading towards the forest.

Damen would have replied, had he been capable of speaking. Instead, with a half wave, Laurent disappeared into the forest, Damen staring after him for a long moment before Nikandros cleared his voice.

“Earth to Damen! Come in Damen!” Nikandros pinched him. “We got a job to do, remember? Ios is waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Damen spared a final glance at the forest, Laurent long gone. “He’s really something, isn’t he?”

Nikandros snorted. “Oh yeah, he’s _something_. Now move it, we have places to be.”

Damen let himself be led, unable to shake the feeling of Laurent's stare catching his.


End file.
